Thank you very much. Thanks for having me in this discussion.
Briefly, IRENA is an intergovernmental agency. We have 167 members and will have 168 in 15 days. We are the only intergovernmental agency that has this global membership.
I would say that the discussion we're having today is one that, at the end of the day, deals with energy transition. We see that energy transition is already in place. It's happening. It's mainly guided by the markets, because the cost of renewables went down dramatically in the last decade and now, largely, the planet is the most convenient way to produce electricity.
There is no doubt the energy system of the future is going to be defined by the significant presence of renewables, the dominant part of renewables, complemented by hydrogen, mainly green hydrogen and sustainable biomass. This is happening and, from our point of view, it is not stoppable in any way.
IRENA is working trying to understand all of the realities and how they fit in with the calls of the Paris Agreement. We are doing this exercise through our “World Energy Transitions Outlook”, which designs a possible pathway to the 1.5° of the Paris Agreement. It's important to say that the outlook deals with the technologies that we need. These are the technologies that are available now, because it's just been said that the next decade, this decade, will tell us if we'll be able to stay on the pathway consistent with the Paris Agreement or not. In our next outlook, we say very clearly that we are very close to making the goal of 1.5° unrealistic if we don't introduce dramatic change.
We have the technology and then the policy part. They are very relevant. The debate today belongs to the policy part. Naturally, cap and trade is one of the policies, or instruments, that we need in order to take down CO2 emissions.
The third part is the socio-economic impact of the energy transition, as well as all policy measures, like the one you are discussing. It's clear that the direction of travel is there. The reality is that we are not on track when we consider the speed and the scale of the energy transition.
Your debate is very useful in this way, because cap and trade is one of the instruments that we have to try to lower CO2 emissions. A good example in this respect is the one coming from the European Union, with the emission trading scheme. Another is the example that you have already in Canada, especially in your scheme between Canada and Ontario. As far as I remember, they are still working with a kind of trading. It is not with a very clear cap, but the trading's already there. Cap and trade is one of the most effective ways to harness the market and move the market in the direction that we wish to go.
I will close here, because I think I have just 50 seconds. It's also important to know how, going forward, renewables for the cleaner energy system will give anyone more independence in their own domestic energy systems. Where we have renewables and green hydrogen, we will have more actors in the markets and more sources of supply, so it will be difficult, or impossible, to capitalize on the fuels and, therefore, use the fuel in a digital politics dynamic.
The acceleration of the transition has to happen, not only for climate and economic reasons, but to give rights, independence and security around the world.
Thank you very much for your attention.